A Snowy Evening
by Millie
Summary: Victoria is broken and Emily feels lost.


**Hello all! I am new to this show and ship. I am still behind in episodes, but I felt like I needed to contribute to the Vemily ship. There needs to be more stories! I hope you enjoy this. If you do, please leave a review! I am hoping to get a bigger scale work of Vemily going, but I need to get through watching the show and getting caught up to better understand Victoria. She's an interesting character! Please let me know if you like this and know there will be more to come! **

* * *

All she had ever wanted was to avenge her father's death and wrongful arrest. She had worked hard to take down the Grayson family, but now as she watched snow swirl around outside her beachfront home in the Hamptons, Emily – or rather Amanda Clarke – was having second thoughts about everything.

She was beginning to believe her lies more than the truth and what was worse, a lie that she'd been telling herself was becoming more real and more serious by the day.

She had kissed Jack in a moment of confusion, hurt, longing for a past she'd never had. Now he was a father and she was left with nothing at all. Except this reality she refused to accept. What was she doing? Grayson Global was going downhill at a fast pace, as Emily had hoped it would, but revenge was beginning to feel less and less necessary…at least when it came to one member of the Grayson family.

"Emily," a cold, condescending tone startled Emily out of her revere and she glanced over to find Victoria Grayson standing on her porch. She had her black trench coat wrapped around her slender frame and was trailing snow off her black boots.

"Victoria," Emily acknowledged her and then shivered, pulling the blanket she'd drug outside tighter around herself. "What are you doing here?" She asked, her voice neither holding contempt, nor happiness that the matriarch of the Grayson manor had materialized out of nowhere. It was as if her subconscious had summoned the woman to her porch.

"I…" The woman trailed off, before glancing off to the ocean. She shivered, her eyes looked glazed over. She'd clearly had too much to drink, she was in distress.

"It's cold out," Emily quickly cut in, noticing that Victoria was having trouble expressing her late night intentions. "Why don't you come inside." She got up and moved to the door, hoping that Victoria would follow her without question.

She continued on to her kitchen, placing the tea kettle on the stove.

When she heard the door click shut a wave of nervous, unsettling energy shot through her body. She turned to face the older woman, almost frightened by the hollow, empty look she possessed in that moment. Dark eyes skimmed the interior of Emily's house as if she were seeing it all the way she had seen it years ago. Emily could tell she was reliving the events of days long ago, of a time when she'd happily sneaked in to have a tryst with her father.

She'd come here for that very reason. To relive it, to feel it again. Of this Emily was certain.

"Why don't you sit down?" Emily ushered the other woman to the couch, uncertain of how to communicate with an emotionally distraught Victoria. She was used to the hard, biting exterior, the closed walls that supported the woman. She was not prepared for this.

Victoria stumbled momentarily before finding the couch, Emily catching her in the process.

Once she was seated, she continued her aloof gaze, not allowing herself to face Emily at all.

Emily sat on a chair opposite Victoria and watched, waiting for some indication of why she had come, of what she wanted.

The older woman looked down at her lap, fidgeting slightly with her coat as if she were afraid to touch anything that wasn't her own. "Conrad's solution for everything is to drink." She finally stated, her voice much more sober than her appearance.

Emily swallowed and continued to watch the other woman unfold before her.

"I think half the decisions I've made have been made under intoxicated circumstances." She rolled her eyes in self-chastisement. Sighing in disbelief she finally met Emily's gaze. "I should go." She attempted to stand, but couldn't find her footing.

"No," Emily shot up and caught Victoria before she could run from whatever this moment was. "At least stay for tea."

Victoria just settled back against the couch and nodded. Emily sat down on the couch beside Victoria.

"Why did you stop by tonight?" Emily quickly asked, ready to get to the point of this strange evening.

Victoria closed her eyes and shook her head. "I needed…" it was so hard for her to say it.

"Is this about David?" Emily could see it in the pain brightly painted on the other woman's face. She had truly loved her father, despite her unwillingness to save him, she had loved him.

Victoria glanced at Emily and nodded. "He was the only thing that made sense." Victoria's eyes suddenly focused and she narrowed in on Emily. "You remind me a lot of him."

Emily's stomach flipped. Did Victoria know? Had she, instinctively, known the whole time?

A delicate hand moved forward, tenderly pushing a strand of blonde away from Emily's cheek.

Emily's heart beat quickly for a moment, uncertain what to do with Victoria so delicately touching her. Her hand lingered, their eyes battling against one another.

The whistling of the tea kettle was the only thing that broke them out of this uncomfortable moment of uncharacteristic closeness.

Victoria's hand moved away from her cheek and Emily quickly got up to fill two mugs with tea bags and water.

By the time she returned to the couch Victoria had withdrawn into herself again. She took the mug and held it between her hands, staring icily down into the steaming cup.

"You've been a great help to me, Emily." Victoria's voice was a whisper. "Despite my initial hesitancy with your engagement to Daniel, I have grown to like you very much. You remind me so much of myself, it's almost frightening." Victoria offered own of her Cheshire smiles and Emily was lost from her train of thought. They sipped their tea in silence, Victoria shifting her gaze to the blazing fire Emily had going.

Emily let Victoria's words settle for a moment and she noticed the truth in them. They were both very powerful, very intelligent women. They could battle one another at anything and never back down. They were strong, they were fighters.

A single, nearly unnoticeable, tear slipped down Victoria's cheek and she wiped it away quickly. Her lips made contact with the tea cup and she sipped the still hot liquid.

Emily sat her cup on the coffee table and then reached for Victoria's. She placed it beside her own and then boldly cradled Victoria's head between her hands. "Why did you betray David Clarke?"

Victoria's eyes watered and she shook her head, trying to fight her way out of Emily's grasp. "I loved him, but that decision was not my own, Amanda." Victoria hissed.

Emily let go of Victoria and stared at her in shock.

"Of course I know. I didn't believe your charade from the beginning. You cannot fool me."

"Does…"

"No, I've kept it to myself." Victoria sighed. "I'm smarter than you give me credit for."

Emily sat back on the couch.

"I think this could be mutually beneficial for us." Victoria's voice was small for once that evening, almost uncertain.

Emily faced her, not sure what her next course of action should be. Her mind was racing a mile a minute, but a hand covering her own seemed to derail all thoughts of revenge.

"Amanda, I truly did love him. You must believe me." Victoria's body seemed to move closer.

It was so late at night; perhaps this entire conversation wasn't happening at all. Perhaps this was a horrible, all too realistic dream that Emily was having and when she woke up Victoria wouldn't be here touching her hand or calling her Amanda.

Victoria's lips were inches from Amanda's forehead and she leaned forward to gentle kiss her. "Please, forgive me."

Amanda felt her own tears surfacing. This was not her plan. This had never been her plan. This would change everything. "Victoria…" Emily was at a loss for words. "I don't trust you."

"I don't know if I can trust you, either." Victoria re-iterated back, her body so close to Emily's.

Emily looked up, her lips so close to Victoria's. She could see the trail of tears coming from Victoria's eyes and in just this exact moment she wanted to kiss them away. Her hands came up to wipe the tears, stopping her from getting any closer. This was surreal. This wasn't happening.

"I can't continue on this way," Victoria shook her head, catching Emily's wrist in her hand.

"What are you proposing?" Emily's eyes held a look of uncertainty, questioning.

"We can do this together. We can take them all down." A smile formed on Victoria's lips.

Instead of answering, Emily closed the distance between them and captured Victoria's lips in her own. The other woman responded immediately, reciprocating the kiss, deepening it. Her hands tangled in blonde hair, pulling the girl closer to her.

* * *

The morning sun peered in through the white curtains. The fire had died down and Emily could feel coldness on her back. A light breeze hit her chest in sporadic puffs and her eyes opened to find raven hair swirling beside her on a pillow.

Her heart nearly stopped beating for a moment as she found herself wrapped tightly in Victoria Grayson's arms. She tensed for a moment, having forgotten the events that transpired the night before.

She was suddenly fully awake, but unable to move.

She swallowed and looked down at the sleeping Grayson in her own arms. The woman looked so peaceful in her sleep, so emotionally whole. It was a beautiful sight, despite the alarms going off in the back of Emily's mind. If Victoria knew she was Amanda, it could ruin everything.

But wasn't kissing Victoria already ruining everything? Had she gotten so far off track that she was willing to agree to Victoria's proposal?

The other woman seemed to sense her restlessness. She stirred in her sleep and then slowly came awake, her own matching look of realization as to where she was washed over the peaceful look she had had only moments before. "Emily…I…" Victoria's grasp on her loosened.

However, Emily didn't let go.

"Okay." She resolutely stated.

Victoria's eyes flashed in confusion before her body released in understanding.


End file.
